Lather making machine



Aug. 11, 1970 J. M. LEVY 3,523,908

LATHER MAKING MACHINE Filed July 12, 1968 =5 60 86 88 95 72 62 90 7/511] 76, f v v4 z4 O 85/ INVENTOR JACOB M. LEVY BY 8l- I JfluZ/wz 7. 752. 4 3392 93 #4 9'6 plugs.

United States Patent Office 3,523,908 Patented Aug. 11, 1970 US. Cl. 252-359 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The improved lather maker is characterized by a hollow member circular in cross section, open at both ends and with a corrugated interior surface. A soap inlet is located at one end and a discharge outlet is at the other end. A coextensive rotor circular in cross section and with an entirely corrugated exterior surface and of slightly lesser diameter is concentrically supported within the hollow member. The rotor at its end near the inlet is formed with transverse circular rings produced by incorporating transverse annular or peripheral grooves in the rotor. The grooves are confined to the rear or inlet portion of the device and are variably spaced axially, being closer together further removed from the inlet and toward the discharge end.

This invention relates to a novel lather making machine and, more particularly, to a lather making machine having means for producing shaving lather from liquid soap.

The general type of lather making apparatus to which the present invention pertains is shown in my Letters Patent No. 3,215,642, granted Nov. 2, 1965. I have found, unexpectedly, that machine operation is improved by redesign of the rotor and by the improved cooperation between the rotor and the housing within which the rotor rotates.

An object of the present invention is to provide a highly efiicient lather making machine of relatively inexpensive construction incorporating an improved rotor arrangement.

Another object of this invention is to provide a lowcost lather making machine having novel whipping means comprising a rotor rotatable Within a generally cylindrical housing member, the rotor being provided with a conveying section and a whipping section, the conveying section comprising a plurality of sections separated from one another by annular slots or grooves.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a lather making machine having a housing and a novel multiple-angled, helically-toothed rotor member therein, such rotor member being provided 'with a conveying section and a whipping section for effectively whipping the liquid soap to provide a rich, creamy shaving lather which is low in alkali content and high in water content.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved lather making machine having unique whipping means comprising a rotor having grooves in the surface thereof disposed within and cooperating with an internally grooved housing member, the clearance between the rotor and the housing member increasing toward the discharge end of the lather making machine.

The above and other objects and features of this invention will be more readily apparent from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a lather making machine embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the lather making apparatus of the present invention, with parts broken away for clarity;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view through the cylindrical housing means showing the rotor therein; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the rotor taken generally along line 44 of FIG. 3.

Referring now to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the presently preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a lather making machine 10- having an open-topped unitary housing 11, preferably molded from plastic. Recessed openings 12 may be provided in a side wall of the housing for receiving studs or pins on a wall bracket so as to support the housing 11 on a wall. Provided within the housing 11 and extending substantially the length and width thereof is a receptacle means 13 for liquid soap. The receptacle means 13 is covered by a removable cover 14 having suitable handle means 16 thereon for gripping the same.

Provided in housing 11 adjacent to and beneath the receptacle means 13 is a chamber 18. Within chamber 18 is a heater 20 for warming the liquid soap contained in the receptacle 13 so as to keep the soap particles in solution and provide a homogeneous soap mixture. It is preferable that the liquid soap be heated to a temperature in the range of 40 to C.

Communicating with the bottom of the receptacle 13 and extending downwardly therefrom is a valved conduit means 22, which is connected at its bottom with a liquid soap inlet opening in the top of a horizontally elongated cylindrical housing mmeber 24. The rear of housing member 24 is spaced from and thus substantially insulated from the 'wall 25 of the housing 11 defining a portion of chamber 18. The front end of member 24 extends outwardly from an end of housing 11. Disposed within the elongated cylindrical member 24, which preferably is open at each end, is a cylindrical whipping instrument or rotor 26 which cooperates with the housing member 24 to whip the liquid soap and extrude a rich, creamy lather suitable for shaving from discharge opening 28 at one end of housing member 24 between the rotor and the housing member. The novel cooperation between the whipping means defined by housing member 24 and rotor 26 will be more fully explained later.

The cylindrical rotor 20 is operatively connected to the shaft of the electric motor indicated generally at 32. A shaded-pole electric motor or a universal-type motor may be used.

Control means 39 are provided for actuating the valve within the valved conduit means 22. Such means comprise a handle 36 pivotally mounted on a pivot pin affixed to an end wall of the housing 11. The linkage for actuating the valve within the valved conduit means 22 may include a link arm 40 pivotally secured at 41 to a link arm 42. Link arm 42 is pivotally connected at 44 to the housing 11. When the handle 36 is pivoted about its pivot, the link arms 40 and 42 will be moved downwardly to open the valve 52 within the conduit means 22 and thus permit the flow of liquid soap from within the receptacle 13 into the cylindrical member 24.

The lather making machine may be constructed so that movement of handle 36 to open the valve within conduit means 22 will close a switch to energize electric motor 32 to drive the rotor 26 within the member 24.

In FIG. 2, there is illustrated a side view of the lather making machine 10 of the persent invention, with parts broken away to more clearly show the valved conduit means 22 and with an adjustable base being illustrated at the bottom of the housing 11. The valved conduit means 22 includes a conduit 46 which extends from the bottom of the receptacle 13 to the top of the cylindrical member 24. The flanged top of the conduit 46 engages a washer 48 provided between the flanged top and the bottom of the receptacle for sealing the same and preventing liquid soap from entering the chamber 18 defined within the housing 11 beneath the receptacle 13. The flanged top of the conduit 46 defines a valve seat 50 which is adapted to be engaged by valve 52 affixed to the valve stem 54. The valve stem 54 is pinned to arm 42 as indicated at 56 and is biased to the closed position by the coil spring 58 disposed between the top of the conduit 46 and the bottom of the link arm 42.

The electric motor 32 is suitably supported within the housing 11.

The housing 11 of the lather making machine 10 of the present invention may be adjustably supported on a table or shelf by means of an adjustable base 60 having a plurality of legs 62 adjustably and threadedly secured with respect to the base. Suitable fastening means are provided to connect the base to the bottom of the housing 11.

The exterior of cylindrical housing member 24 is spaced from the end wall of housing 11 so as to provide an annular space 64 therebetween. Also, vent openings 66 may be provided in the side walls of housing 11 for communicating chamber 18 with the atmosphere. By this arrangement, the reservoir is heated and the soap particles in reservoir 13 are maintained in solution to provide a homogenous soap mixture while at the same time overheating of housing member 24 is prevented. Preferably, the temperature of the housing member 24 is about 10 C. less than the temperature of the liquid soap in receptacle or reservoir 13. Overheating of member 24 may cause deleterious efiect on the quality of the lather produced. However, the present arrangement is such that the liquid soap in the reservoir and the housing 24 of the whipping means are warmed adequately for proper operation of the lather making machine.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, the novel whipping means of the present invention is more clearly illustrated. The whipping means comprises housing member 24 made from plastic or metal and being generally cylindrical in shape, and the rotor or whipping instrument 26.

The member 24 which may be suitably afiixed at its rear end to bracket 70 has a plurality of generally axially extending grooves 72 defined in the inner cylindrical surface between adjacent paddles or ridges 73. Although the exterior of the member 24 is shown as being cylindrical, other exterior configurations may be used. The interior surface 74 of the housing 24 extending from the rear thereof to the end of the grooves 72, as defined by shoulders 76 at the ends of grooves 72, is smooth.

I have found that best results are obtained when the grooves 72 have a rounded or generally semi-cylindrical bottom 78 and are about one-eight inch deep. The grooves are somewhat deeper than they are wide. In one em bodiment of the invention, member 24 is formed with 26 grooves therein and each groove is one-eighth inch deep and inch wide. The rotor 26, for use in member 24 in said one embodiment of the invention, is about one and one-half inches in diameter and has an over-all length of about four inches. It will be understood that the grooves will be proportionally smaller if the inner diameter of the member 24 is smaller. Further, it is also possible to reduce the number of grooves as well as reduce the size of the grooves proportionally.

The rotor 26 is provided with a conveying section and a whipping section. The conveying section of rotor 26 is comprised of a plurality of grooved or toothed gear portions 8084 spaced one from the other and defining annular slots or grooves 85-88 therebetween. The helix angle of the grooves in each of the gear portions or elements 80, 81, 82 83 and 84 is relatively steep, on the order of 45. Gear portion 80 adjacent the rear end of the housing 24 has the greatest axial width. Gear portions 81, 82 and 83 have approximately the same axial width. Gear portion 84, which is adjacent to and engages with gear portion 91 of the whipping section of the rotor 26, has the narrowest axial width. The gear portions in the conveying section decrease in axial width from the rear end of housing 24 toward the whipping section. The liquid soap flowing through opening 90 will fall upon gear portions 81 and 82 and be carried to the right as viewed in FIG. 3. Preliminary beating and subdividing of liquid into finer particles is provided by elements 8184, which elements also function to convey the soap to the whipping section for intensive beating and lather making. Annular slot or groove 85 cooperates with element 80 to reduce back up of material and element 80 functions to prevent the escape of liquid through the open rear end of the housing 24. Preferably, there are seventeen grooves formed peripherally in each of the elements 80-84, with each groove being generally semi-circular in cross section and about one-eighth inch deep. However, there may be fewer grooves if the diameter of the rotor is decreased.

The conveying section of rotor 26 functions to (1) move liquid soap from inlet opening to the whipping section While subdividing the liquid to enhance subsequent intensive beating, and (2) prevent the backup of lather toward the rear end of housing 24 to avoid stoppage of flow of liquid through opening 90 and to prevent discharge of lather or liquid from the rear end of hous ing 24.

The whipping section of rotor 26 may be comprised of gear sections 91 and 92. Defined in the periphery of the gear sections in the whipping section of rotor 26 are a plurality of groove means which are of substantially uniform cross section throughout their length. The grooves 93 in each gear section 91 and 92 are in alignment with one another and cooperate to define a plurality of generally helically disposed grooves in the exterior surface of rotor 20. Between sections 91 and 92, there is provided an annular slot or groove 95 for reducing backup of material in the whipping or beating area. Groove 95, in a present form of the invention, is .060 inch wide.

The material in the reservoir 13 may be liquid soap formulated for producing shampoo lather for washing the hair or lather suitable for shaving. Other flowable liquid-like materials to be whipped to a lather-like consistency, as for example, toothpaste may be used. The liquid is conveyed from the inlet opening 90 to gear sec tion 91 by the elements 81-84 in the conveying section of rotor 26. At gear section 91, the beating of the liquid soap into a lather begins. Paddles or teeth for beating and whipping the liquid soap are formed by the ridges 96 between adjacent grooves 93 in rotor 26. The liquid soap is whipped due to the cooperation of grooves 93 and ridges 96 in rotor 26 and the grooves 72 and ridges 73 in housing 24. The lather is less dense than the liquid soap and requires more space for proper expansion of the volume thereof for proper whipping of the liquid soap. Accordingly, the clearance between the exterior of rotor 26 and the interior of housing 24 is increased toward the discharge end of rotor 26. Increasing the radial clearance between rotor 26 and housing 24 enhances the efficiency of the lather making process and facilitates the extrusion of the lather from the whipping means. The radial clearance between the housing 24 and elements 32, 83 and 84 and the element 91 of the whipping rotor 26, respectively, is kept at a minimum, in the order of about .010 inch. This prevents the seeping of liquid soap beyond element 92. The clearance starts to increase at the beginning of element 92. The small clearance between the housing and elements 82, 83, 84 and 91 also helps the formation of a mild light foam. The liquid soap should enter the element 92 in the state or form of a mild light foam. It is then beat up vigorously into a thick heavy lather.

The helix angle of grooves 93 of rotor 26 was found to be of critical importance. The most efiective helix angle was determined to be about 10. This angle is critical for if it is too small, the extrusion process is adversely efiected and lather will tend to back up into the clearance space about the conveying section of rotor 26. On the other hand, if the helix angle were too large, the resultant lather would be of poor, thin consistency and would be extruded more slowly than is desired.

It will be understood that the rotor 26 may be integrally formed or molded, or may be fabricated from separate conveying and whipping sections. If desired, each element may be separately formed and secured to a common core or hub member that is adapted to be connected to the shaft of motor 32.

Now the functioning of my novel lather making machine will be described. Cover 14 is removed from housing 11 and reservoir 13 is filled with fluid material to be whipped into a lather, for example, liquid soap. The lather making machine is connected to a suitable source of electrical power by conventional electric plug means. The heater is energized to heat the liquid soap within the receptacle 13. Typically, a 10-watt heater may be utilized. Because of the novel and improved design of the rotor, by heating the housing 24 only instantly with a 250=watt heater for about 8 to 10 seconds, a good warm lather may be produced using room temperature (or cold) liquid soap. In such arrangement, the housing 24 may be formed from a heat conductive material, such as metal, and the heater may be of the resistance type wrapped around the housing and disposed in intimate heat exchange relationship therewith.

To prepare lather, the user pivots handle 36 and simultaneously actuates the motor 32 and opens the valve 50 within the valved conduit means 22. The liquid soap will pass from receptacle 13 into cylindrical housing member 24 and will be conveyed from the conveying section of rotor 26 to the whipping section. The teeth or gears of the rotor 26 in conjunction with the teeth or gears of the housing member 24 produce an intensive beating effect upon the soap as the rotor 26 is rotated and thus provides a lather of rich and creamy consistency. The discharge end of the housing member is disposed adjacent the handle 36 so that with one hand, the user can actuate the control means and at the same time, receive the lather discharging from the discharge end of the housing member 24.

Vents 66 may be provided in the wall of housing 11 to further communicate annular space 64 with the atmosphere. Thus, the temperature of housing member 24 is maintained within desirable limits and overheating thereof, which might cause production of a thin, lightweight lather, is avoided.

Two important factors which contribute to the desirable efficiency and lather making results obtained by the present invention are the clearance between the rotor and the housing member and the configuration of the conveying section of the rotor. First, there is a slight but important increase in clearance between the exterior of rotor 26 and the interior of the housing member 24. Preferably, the internal diameter of the housing member 24 remains constant. However, the external diameter of rotor 26 decreases from the rear end toward the discharge end. In one form of the invention, the clearance between rotor and the housing member over the rear third of the axial length of the whipping means is 0.010 inch, the clearance in the middle third of the axial length of the whipping means is 0.015 inch and the clearance in the front third of the axial length of the whipping means is 0.020 inch. The increasing radial clearance facilitates movement of the thickening lather from the housing member and out discharge opening 28. The beating is most intensive and the lather is thickest in the region where the radial clearance between the whipping member or rotor 26 and the housing member 24 is about 0.015 inch. The increasing radial clearance results in a lessening of the beating action toward the discharge end of housing 24.

Second, the conveying portion comprises a plurality of peripherally grooved elements 80-84 spaced from one another so as to define annular recesses or slots -85- 88 therein. The conveying portion may be molded as a unit from plastic or may be formed of separate elements joined together. Element has a greater axial width than elements 81, 82 and 83 to give it more forward thrust to the liquid to prevent backup of liquid. Elements 81, 82 and 83 are about the same width, and are each relatively narrow in order to develop a finer liquid spray. The arrangement of annular slots between elements in the conveying sections functions to break up and subdivide the liquid and, in use, a lightweight foam starts to form in the conveying section of rotor 26. Although the major portion of the whipping or beating of the liquid is done in the whipping section (elements 91 and 92), the end result is enhanced if the soap particles are minutely subdivided and at least partially aerated in the conveying section.

In a presently preferred form of this invention, element 80 is about .25 inch axial width, elements 81, 82 and 83 are each about .060 inch axial width, and element 84 is about .030 to .035 inch axial width. Groove 85 is about .090 inch wide, groove '86 is about .060 inch wide and grooves 87 and 88 are each about .120 inch wide.

The rotor of this invention is shorter than the rotor disclosed in my Pat. No. 3,215,642, has fewer components and fewer dissimilar components, and is more readily fabricated. The number of generally axial and helically disposed grooves in the rotor is reduced to seventeen. The grooves in my present device are of substantially constant cross section and are thus more easily formed. Further, the rotor can be made shorter than that in the device disclosed in my Pat. No. 3,215, 642, resulting in a savings in material.

The improved lather making machine of the present invention includes improved whipping means for produc ing a uniformly thick and creamy lather in an efiicient manner. The lather is produced quickly and is readily extruded through the discharge opening at the front end of the whipping means.-

While I have illustrated and described a presently preferred machine embodying my invention, it will be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, since it may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a lather making machine of the type including the combination of a horizontally elongated housing member having a bore circular in cross section therethrough and being open at each end, one of said openings comprising a discharge opening, said housing member having a liquid soap inlet opening in the top thereof adapted to receive liquid soap and located near the end remote from the discharge end, said housing member having a plurality of axially extending grooves therein and a coextensive whipping member circular in cross section rotatable in said housing member, said whipping member having a plurality of generally helically disposed surface grooves thereon, said whipping member cooperating with the housing member to produce lather as it rotates, said lather being discharged through the discharge opening, the improvement comprising said whipping member having a conveying portion and a whipping portion, the conveying portion comprising a plurality of peripherally grooved transverse elements each axially spaced from an adjacent element so as to define an annular transverse, peripheral recess therebetween, the conveying section being located to receive liquid soap directly from the soap inlet opening and conveying the soap to the whipping portion while preliminarily beating the liquid soap.

2. A lather making machine as in claim 1 wherein the grooved elements defining the conveying portion are constructed and arranged so that the transverse element axially farthest from the whipping portion has a greater width than the element axially closest to the whipping portion.

3. A lather making machine as in claim 2 wherein the axial width of the grooved elements decreases toward 7 the whipping portion from the most remote to the most proximate.

4. A lather making machine as in claim 1 wherein the,

radial clearance between the external surface of the whipping member and the internal surface of the housing member increases toward the discharge opening in order to enhance the lather making process.

5. A lather making machine as in claim 4 wherein the radial clearance adjacent the soap inlet opening is about 0.010 inch and the radial clearance adjacent the discharge opening is about 0.020 inch.

6. A lather making machine as in claim 1 wherein the angle of the helix of the grooves in the whipping portion of the whipping member is about 10 degrees with respect to the axis of the whipping member.

7. A lather making machine as in claim -1 wherein the angle of helix of the elements in the conveying portion is about 45 degrees with respect to the axis of the whipping member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,756,102 7/1956 Switzer 252-3595 X 2,925,202 2/ 1960 Stevens 252-3595 X 3,119,779 1/1964 Barrows et al. 252-3595 3,215,642 11/1965 Levy 252-3595 3,341,468 9/1967 Rosen 252-3595 2,225,797 12/1940 Plauson 252-3593 X FOREIGN PATENTS 788,827 1/1958 Great Britain.

NORMAN YUDKOFF, Primary Examiner J. SOFER, Assistant Examiner 

